Alternative Famous Firsts
Chris Jackson
Program Director / Afternoons
KZIA-F4 (X1075)/Cedar Rapids, IA
I was a DJ at a local nightclub that began running radio commercials. After hearing the spot a local station had produced, I went to the owner of the nightclub to inform him I could produce a better commercial in my sleep! So, they put me in charge of voicing and producing their weekly radio spots. After a few weeks it dawned on me that I could do this for a living!
Soul Asylum & Matthew Sweet.
Michael Jackson's "Thriller." (Wasn't that everyone's first record?)
Papa Roach. Like most young jocks doing their first interview, I was so incredibly nervous, and I forgot how to say (lead singer) Jacoby Shaddix's name. Luckily he was used to it and laughed it off.
It was my first night ever doing a live radio shift. It was a Saturday night, and the Top 40 station was airing a mix show that ran until midnight. As I waited for the show to end, I went to make the board live—and everything went silent. The best part? I didn’t know anyone at this radio station except for the PD who had just hired me. He didn’t answer any of my late-night, frantic phone calls, so I sat calmly, staring at the board, trying to figure out what I had screwed up. After about seven minutes of dead air, I finally noticed that the Program Send was not on above the automation channel. Just one button! The beauty of that moment was that I was no longer nervous about cracking the mic for the first time. It made my first live break feel like a breeze!
Dave Hanacek
Music Director/ Middays
92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock
It was the late '90s, and I had this wild balance—drafting full-time by day and playing in two bands by night. But something was missing, so I decided to take a chance and intern at the local radio station. I started small, answering phones at night, then eventually found myself hosting a weekend show. Fast forward a few years, and I was on air Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 PM, then moved to afternoons. Eventually, I became the music director. Each stage of my journey was more challenging, but also more rewarding. I wasn’t just playing music; I was shaping the vibe and turning the airwaves in Santa Barbara into my playground. It was a crash course in the radio business, and an absolute blast.
In 6th grade, I had one goal: get to the LA Forum to see Van Halen on their 1984 tour. I begged my sister and her boyfriend to take me, and looking back, I had no idea what I was walking into. But once those lights went down and Eddie Van Halen hit the stage, I knew one thing for sure – I was witnessing something incredible. The energy, the volume, the power of that show? It changed the way I saw music forever. It was the first time I truly understood that live music isn’t just a performance – it’s an experience you feel. I’ve never forgotten that moment.
When I was 8, I saw the cover of Elvis Presley: Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite and had no idea who Elvis Was – but something about that album spoke to me. I begged my mom to buy it, and when I finally dropped the needle on that vinyl, I was hooked. The man’s voice, his swagger, his entire presence -- it felt like I was being introduced to the very soul of rock ‘n’ roll. That was the moment I realized records were more than just songs—they were an entire world waiting to be explored.
July 20, 2001 – Green Day’s Warning tour, and I was lucky enough to score my first live interview with them at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Now, when I say they didn’t hold back, I mean it. The entire interview was full of bleep-worthy moments, and they didn’t care. I was trying to stay professional, but they were doing anything but that. It was chaos! In this industry, things don’t always go according to plan. You can’t control everything, but you can control how you roll with it. Green Day gave me a masterclass in spontaneity, and I learned the hard way.
Then there was that Saturday morning in my late 20’s. I had definitely overdone it the night before, but somehow I made it to the station to cover my shift. Long story short, I fell asleep at the board. Cue 20 minutes of dead air – nothing but pure silence. When the program director came in and saved me, I felt like my soul was leaving my body. In radio, you can’t phone it in. You have to show up, no matter what’s going on in your head (or your hangover). It was a lesson in accountability, but also in humility. Dead air is real, and it’s not your friend.
Kenny Wall
Founder/Partnered Programming Group & Program Director
KXNA (The X 104.9)/Fayetteville, AR
Started one week out of high school in 1984 at KVOM in Morrilton, AR. I was actually spinning records at that time. We didn’t have a playlist, we just had three boxes of music we chose from and played them. There was some method to the madness, but not much. Taught me about programming early. Also, a lot of how I treat people now comes from the lessons I learned from the station owner Stan Willis. Lots of lessons learned.
Willie Nelson with Delbert McClinton at the Pine Bluff Convention Center in Pine Bluff, AR I believe in 1980.
I think it was the 45 of “You Decorated My Life” by Kenny Rogers. Not proud of that.
Keith Whitley. He was such a nice man. He was playing a show at a local bar and invited me to the show. Afterwards, he brought me onto the bus and showed me the video to the song “When You Say Nothing At All”. It had not been released yet. One thing I remember him saying was, he refused to kiss the actress in the video because he felt that would be disrespecting to his wife. Solid dude.
At KVOM, I was doing the evening show. Now, I was also in college and was partying pretty hard. One night I was particularly tired. I put on “There’s No Way” by Alabama and decided to rest my eyes. What I think was about 10 minutes later, I woke up to the clicking sound of the record and the phone ringing. Luckily, nobody working at the station heard that. Lesson learned.
